1,304 research outputs found
Determination of the Level of Organophosphorus Pesticides in Tomato Using GC-MS/MS and the Concentration of Some Heavy Metals Using FAAS
No full textThis study was carried out to develop and apply a quick, yet efficient, analytical method for simultaneous determination of the residues of the 86 pesticides repeatedly detected in food commodity in Al-Rass province of Al-Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia. The suggested method is based on QuEChERS extraction procedures based on acetonitrile followed by a dispersive solid-phase extraction (d-SPE) with primary-secondary amine (PSA) and bulk of carbograph for clean-up, was applied prior to GC-MS/MS analysis, focusing in particular on tomato crops. The second aim of the study was to measure the levels of some heavy metals using FAAS technique, particularly, Cu, Cd, Zn, Fe and Pb. The third aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of some common household-type preparations and handling procedures for tomato on reducing the levels of the detected pesticide residues as well as the heavy metals. The current findings could provide that the proper home preparation of tomato samples, in particular, soaking in 2% sodium chloride solution and soaking in commercial 5% acetic acid has led to effective elimination of the pesticide ethion from those samples. However, results have shown that there was no significant effect on the levels of heavy metals in the investigated tomato samples after applying the common types of household treatments
Survey on the Moisture and Ash Contents in Agricultural Commodities in Al-Rass Governorate, Saudi Arabia in 2017
No full textResearchers and governments are paid great interest concerning food safety and quality of food stuff. Determination of moisture and ash contents was ac-complished by using simple, easy and low cost method to establish a database for agricultural commodities.Twenty four types of agricultural commodities were collected from the local market in Al-Rass governorate, Al-Qassim region, Saudi Arabia. The samples were collected in the period from the beginning of January 2017 to the end of July 2017. The survey show that higher values of moisture contents were found in tomato and cucumber (95.79 and 94.65%, respectively)while the higher values of ash content were found in leafy vegetables in particu-lar spinach and watercress of 1.91% and 1.51% respectivel
Fabrication and environmental applications of glass microspheres: A review
No full textContinuous technological progress is required to improve production efficiency and environmental quality while maintaining economic competitiveness. A non-negligible contribution to some of these goals can be achieved through the production of glass microspheres for a wide range of applications. The fabrication techniques of glass microspheres including flame synthesis, liquid droplet method, dried gel process and electrical arc process are surveyed. The mechanisms of the recent syntheses of porous and hollow glass microspheres are also reviewed. Glass microspheres are a promising substrate for titania coatings which can be used in water purification and self-cleaning systems. Due to their high mechanical strength and low thermal conductivity, they can also be applied in cementitious and insulating products. Glass microspheres can carry hydrogen gas at pressures of up to 150 MPa. In addition, they can enhance the quality of lead-acid batteries by decreasing the critical volume fraction..
Advanced Dye Sorbents from Combined Stereolithography 3D Printing and Alkali Activation of Pharmaceutical Glass Waste
No full textAdditive manufacturing (AM) technologies enable the fabrication of objects with complex geometries in much simpler ways than conventional shaping methods. With the fabrication of recyclable filters for contaminated waters, the present work aims at exploiting such features as an opportunity to reuse glass from discarded pharmaceutical containers. Masked stereolithography-printed scaffolds were first heat-treated at relatively low temperatures (680 and 730 °C for 1 h) and then functionalized by alkali activation, with the formation of zeolite and sodium carbonate phases, which worked as additional adsorbing centers. As-sintered and activated scaffolds were characterized in terms of the efficiency of filtration and removal of methylene blue, used as a reference dye. The adsorption efficiency of activated printed glass was 81%. The 3D-printed adsorbent can be easily separated from the solution for reuse
Understanding Collaborative Governance of Biodiversity-inclusive urban planning: Methodological approach and benchmarking results for urban nature plans in 10 European cities
No full textThe Biodiversity strategy 2030 [1] has come as no surprise to put European Union on the path to recovery for the benefit of people, climate and the planet. For this purpose, the European commission advanced several mechanisms helping cities and larger urban areas unlocking funding for biodiversity; nonetheless a stronger need for an established governance framework that includes people and public participation across all levels and all sectors is needed [1]. Along these lines, this research was initiated as a way to understand the possible quality criteria against which several European cities could be evaluated while establishing their Urban Nature plans through two research questions. Stemming from multiple database collections for the cities’ sampling methodology [2] such as the green capital award, Urban Biodiversity Hub, Climate Neutral Cities Mission, the green City Accord (Nature/biodiversity priority area) and lastly the top ranking cities in European Local Climate Plans Initiative in the last 10 years [3], a sample of 10 cities was selected. Then, following the Targets 12 and 14 that aims to increase biodiversity in urban planning processes, an analytical framework of 30 criteria mainly focusing on collaborative governance and public participation is established through several iterations with a group of experts from Knowledge center for Biodiversity*, The Nature of Cities, Directorate General of Research TD, ICLEI, DGENV and HafenCity University. The preliminary results investigate the so-called 6 lighthouse European cities having an existing Urban Nature plan for at least the last 3 years towards advancing the so called EU Biodiversity strategy dashboard [4]. It emerges that public participation and collaborative governance aspects are rarely considered as an integrated part from the established urban greening plans, nonetheless, several guidance calls on adopting a more co-created approaches when setting up the urban nature plans
Nature-Based Solutions: The Holy Grail of Green Urbanism
No full textCities are living systems. A holistic vision for urban
sustainability looks at the city as an integration of energy,
environment, mobility, urban design, new technologies, and most
importantly “people and nature”. In this article, the aim is to shed the
light on the role of Nature-based solutions (NBS) towards addressing
climate change crisis and tackling a variety of socio-ecological
challenges. Firstly, and most importantly, we review the role of NBS
in shaping urban planning policies as a result of expansion and
densification of cities. Secondly, we reflect on the co-benefits
generated by NBS within the social and cultural regeneration of
cities. Lastly, in this article we give examples from Nice, Boston, and
Milan in order to showcase those cities spatial strategies to
implement NBS through different scales. As a result, we reflect upon
the residual impact on cities territorial planning which remains
mainly environmental and less explored culturally and socially
Upcycling waste derived glass into high-performance photocatalytic scaffolds by alkali activation and direct ink writing
No full textNovel and eco-friendly solutions are extensively needed for wastewater treatment. This work capitalizes on the combination of waste vitrification and additive manufacturing to produce an efficient photocatalyst for the specific purpose. Fine powders of waste-derived glass, containing Fe3O4 inclusions, by simple suspension (for a solid loading of 65 wt %) in alkaline solution (5 M NaOH), were transformed into pastes for direct ink writing. 3D-printed reticulated scaffolds were stabilized by the progressive hardening of a zeolite-like gel, formed by glass/solution interaction, at nearly room temperature. The printed scaffolds were successfully tested for the removal of methylene blue, realized by combining the high sorption capacity of the gel with the catalytic activity of magnetite inclusions, under UV light. A complete degradation of methylene blue is achieved by 90 min exposure, comparing favorably with other reported photocatalytic materials, requiring from 60 to 360 min. The photocatalytic activity was tested for several cycles, with no significant degradation. In other words, a waste-derived material can be reused for multiple times, to remediate wastewaters, with evident benefits on waste minimization
Alkali activation-induced cold consolidation of waste glass: Application in organic-free direct ink writing of photocatalytic dye destructors
No full textAdditive manufacturing, with its ability to assemble a variety of materials in complex and customized architectures, is developing rapidly. The integration of technologies and materials into a sustainable production, however, is still challenging. The present investigation offers new functional glass-based products, from nearly room temperature processing, based on direct ink writing (DIW) of pastes from ‘light’ alkali activation (2.5 M NaOH) of pharmaceutical glass waste, added with 20 wt% of TiO2 nanoparticles. The inks were refined by the inclusion of porous glass microspheres (PGMs, 20–30 wt%), previously fabricated from fiber glass waste. Printed scaffolds, stabilized by simple drying (i.e. ‘unfired’), were successfully applied in the photodegradation of methylene blue. The degradation efficiency reached 100% within 75 min, and the 3D-printed composites could be easily separated from the solution for subsequent reuse. The degradation efficiency declined only by 7.5%, after 5 cycles
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The Effect of Theme on Conceptual Metaphor Use in Al-Ghazali's Iḥyā’ ‘Ulūm al-Dīn and Al-iqtiṣād fī al-i‘tiqād A Discourse Analysis Study
No full textAbu Hamid al-Ghazali (1111- 1058) occupies an important position in Islamic intellectual history. He is considered to be the “renewer” (mujaddid) of the 5th century of the Islamic calendar. His works have been studied from various perspectives, but not in terms of modern critical metaphor analysis methods and approaches, particularly the CMT (Gibbs 2011). This study uses CMT to examine al-Ghazali’s use of metaphors as a linguistic device in two of his major works: Iḥyā’ ‘Ulūm al-Dīn and Al-iqtiṣād fī al-i‘tiqād. The study shows the centrality of metaphors in his narrative. The prominence of metaphorical use in Iḥyā’ was not only due to its high frequency or novelty but to its use as a principal tool to communicate his spiritual experience. Importantly, the study vindicates that al-Ghazali’s use of metaphor is different in two the themes that the two works represent: Iḥyā’ ‘ulūm al-dīn, representative of the Sufi theme, and Al-Iqtisād fī al-i‘tiqad, representative of the theological theme. The difference is in terms of the number of metaphors and their centrality. In the case of al-Ihya, metaphors were the primary vehicle to communicate the meaning, whereas in al-i‘tiqād, metaphoric use was only peripheral as it was exclusively used in the introduction speaking about theology and its importance, not to deliver the theological arguments themselves. The difference is also in the variation of both the source and target domains as well as the discursive purposes of the metaphors used
Evaluation of genetic diversity within different rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) genotypes utilizing start codon targeted (SCoT) and inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) molecular markers
No full textThis work aimed at studying the genetic diversity among different rabbit genotypes reared in Egypt by two different molecular markers (start codon targeted, SCoT, and inter-simple sequence repeat, ISSR) to improve breeding strategies. Five different groups of rabbits were used Gabali (Gab), New Zealand white (NZW), Californian (Cal), Rex, and Papillon (Pap). DNA was extracted and analyzed using SCoT and ISSR-PCR, and the obtained fragments were analyzed. Six SCoT primers scored 60 bands with 78.33 % polymorphism; primer SCoT 6 was the most polymorphic marker with 92.31 % polymorphism, while SCoT 5 was the lowest with 60 %. A dendrogram based on SCoT-PCR revealed that the Rex breed was the most genetically different. Seven ISSR primers gained 56 bands in total with 49.762 % polymorphism. ISSR 4 was the most polymorphic primer that detected 75 % of polymorphism, while ISSR 6 was not able to detect any polymorphism. It was suggested that the SCoT markers may be more effective than ISSR for differentiating and identifying the genetic variations within investigated breeds. Also, the usage of molecular markers of SCoT and ISSR may be more proper for calculating genetic diversity and common ancestry among tested rabbit breeds. Furthermore, evaluating genetic variability is important for enhancing existing breeds' adaptation to ecological alterations and crucial for preservation or breeding purposes
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